The following relates to flashlights and other battery powered devices.
Natural disasters and other emergencies can strike at any time, often without warning. While it may be difficult to predict an emergency, it is possible to plan and prepare for one.
One aspect of a family or group emergency preparedness plan includes proper coordination among the various members of the group. Thus, families and other groups have been encouraged to develop pre-defined evacuation plans, communications and contact information, and rendezvous locations to be used in the event of an emergency.
Another aspect of an emergency preparedness plan has been the provisioning of necessary supplies. Depending on the particular situation, the basics of an emergency supply kit typically include water, food, a battery powered radio and flashlight with extra batteries, first aid supplies, a change of clothing, a blanket or sleeping bag, personal sanitation items, a whistle, and the like.
While these and other steps can help meet the challenges posed by an emergency, proper planning and provisioning can sometimes take a back seat to the more immediate concerns of day-to-day life. Moreover, events can overtake even the best laid plans.
As noted above, basic elements of an emergency supply kit include a battery powered radio and a flashlight with extra batteries. In many cases, however, radios and flashlights require different battery sizes. This can complicate the planning process, and the need to provision the required batteries can be overlooked among the numerous imperatives of a preparedness plan. Even where the supply kit includes the appropriate extra batteries, it may be difficult to obtain replacements should they become discharged over the course of an emergency. Indeed, this issue can also arise in non-emergency situations, especially where batteries of the required size are not ready to hand when needed.
A flashlight that can operate with alternative size batteries is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,942,359 to Furth, et al. issued Sep. 13, 2005. Nonetheless, there remains room for improvement. For example, it remains desirable to provide an improved flashlight or other electrical appliance that accepts different size batteries.